A day before the police found the mutilated body of a woman tied to the railway track near Durali village, the body of an unidentified man was found on the railway track near Gobindgarh village, about 50 kilometre away, under the jurisdiction of the same police station.

The woman’s body was placed on the track on the night intervening August 1 and 2, while the man’s body was found on the night intervening July 31 and August 1.

Unlike the woman’s body, the man’s body was not tied to the railway track. Also, unlike the woman’s body, the man’s body had not been mutilated by a passing train before the police found it. However, the police said both appeared “migrants from some other state’’.

Inspector Baldev Singh of the GRP’s Sirhind Police Station, who confirmed that the body of the 30-year-old man was found a day before the body of the woman, said the post-mortem showed that the man had been killed by hitting him on the head with a stone.

The woman had apparently been strangled, and then her arms tied together with a dupatta and her legs tied to the track. The police believe she was semi-conscious when she was left on the track.

The SHO said that the possible time of the woman’s death was around 10 pm on August 1. “Many goods trains pass that way during the night. We have questioned train drivers, but to no avail,” said Inspector Baldev Singh. Police officials said there was no habitation near the spots where the two bodies were found.

Police stations in nearby areas and the police in neighbouring states have been asked to look into the cases of kidnapping and missing persons over the last few weeks.